HYDERABAD: So by now we all have seen that one-minute-long video on women in festive-fusion attire relishing juicy watermelon, corn, pomegranate, almonds and cooked fish in a rustic setting with a foot-tapping song Loha Chakh Le. The timbre in Madhupurna Ganguly’s voice flows with the video concluding with the lines ‘Invest in Your Iron’ – Project ‘Streedhan: My iron is My Real wealth’. The campaign is a CSR initiative by DSM, a Dutch company. Designed and conceptualised by FCB Ulka, this coincides with the festival of lights when women invest in gold especially on Dhanteras. But the campaign asks them to invest in iron. The iron in blood.
The real treasure. The treasure every second woman in India is low on. Says the National Family Health Service (NFHS) 2016 data: “53 per cent of the Indian women have anemia.” And this is true for women in their teens to the ones in their 40s. A closer look at the video tells you that the women savouring the food are of urban area celebrating their joy of the ‘treasure’ they have discovered. Hence, the festive attire and surreal setting of open rural areas. Keeping aside the agenda of the organisation which began the campaign, it’s clear that despite knowing the importance of iron even educated women don’t take care of their health. Is it carelessness or selective ignorance or a combination of both?
Several nutritionists have come heavily on the video via social media saying that the food items shown don’t offer high amount of iron. Says Dr Deepa Agarwal, nutritionist Tanvir Hospital, Srinagar Colony, “Almonds, pomegranates, fish, watermelon, and corn do have iron content but in marginal amount. Only these items can’t take care of iron deficiency. Food items like ragi, rice-flakes, spinach, roasted Bengal gram, figs, sesame seeds, jaggery, dates, and soya are rich in iron.” That’s how Bollywood actor Vidya Balan and author Anuja Chauhan, who support the campaign, are shown eating dates and jaggery respectively with captions like “My favourite #IronRichfood is dates (sic) and “My favourite source is gur” (sic).
While it’s unfortunate that women in rural India aren’t aware of the anemia menace among other major health challenges, it’s surprising that despite a 24/7 social-media-alert generation why is it that women in cities are not taking care of the iron content in their food? Says Maleeha Rahman, a 29-year-old professional working for a content management organisation, “In the beginning of year suddenly I wasn’t sleeping well, had fluctuating mood swings, was unable to climb stairs and had poor concentration. It was when I consulted the general physician that she asked me to get complete blood picture and much to my horror my haemoglobin count had fallen to 6 while normal is 12.”
The reason of her terribly-low count was that in a rush to meet deadlines and coping up with other life challenges she was often eating whatever was left in the pantry or the fridge which included instant noodles or ready-to-eat food. She was completely off red meat. Adds Dr Deepa, “Another reason for anemia is deficiency of Vitamin D. At the same time if a woman is bleeding too much during her periods or has some other issues then, of course, she needs more iron than an average woman.”
Despite getting viral and admired by thousands of young women the video is facing flak for not dedicating the campaign to the rural women. Says Swati Bhattacharya, chief creative officer of FCB Ulka, “The campaign is designed for urban women who survive on packed/processed food and don’t go out much in the sun. That’s why they suffer from iron deficiency. When you look at the women in villages their meals consist of green vegetables, jaggery, peanuts, grams which are all rich in iron content. They also work outdoors which gets them plenty of Vitamin D and combined with physical work enables better absorption of iron.” She informs that two lines ‘Sona chakha le sona bann ja / apna hii too gahna bann ja’ from the lyrics penned by Veneet Raj Bagga will be printed on cash memos by several jewellers to make women remember that their health is precious. Time to invest more in iron and less in gold? Right?
— Saima Afreen
saima@newindianexpress
@Sfreen